Getting ready for Protest #2

So apparantly there is going to be another protest at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) on the day the dogs are "worked on" and then killed.

I talked to my friend Bill this past weekend about his job at a medical college in Minnesota. He works in the same kind of thing, but they use sheep. He told me that they use them for like 20 different things... dig around in them and stuff... and then he "puts them to sleep".

He's ok with this being his job. He knows that I am not, so he tries not to bring it up around me, which is nice.

All I know is that us being there isn't going to stop it from occurring this year, but I really hope in the next few years, they decide to use something else or do something else, without living animals... because I just keep thinking about the animals that don't have the choice to live... and that February 26, is their last chance at life...

Defeat of the Incredible Ice Hill

Okay. So apparantly when my good luck is looking up, something has to pull me back down to reality that life in fact is not all wonderful and rosy.

After I left class yesterday, I tried to manuver my car out of it's not so tightly fit spot, when I realized that I parked by a ginormous ice hill (about 3 in high). Because my tires are perfect for warm non-icey whether and not this wonderfully cold sleet we've been having, my tire closest to the curb decided it didn't want to do any extra work than just sit next to curb.

I begin to cry, of course, because that's what I am good at, as well as getting super frustrated because I just knew I should have taken the bus like I planned. Well, I spotted what looked like to be a 60 y/o woman and decided she would not be a clear candidate to push my car for the little fear of her braking her hip. Instead, I chose a lankier looking kid who drives a Sebring.

Just by the looks of him, I wasn't sure what he could do with my unfaithful car, but I definitely underestimated his powers of persuasion with my stubborn Corolla. He first tired pushing like I suggested and laughed when we realized it was going no where. He then made me pull very close to the lucky car in front of me that avoided this ice hill. He ever so slightly made me turn me wheel, back up slightly, turn my wheel, and back up slightly, turn the wheel, etc.

That boy is my Savior because he tricked my car out of it's twisted, humorous game it played on me.

Now, what does this have to do with my topic of dogs and polar bears and trees you ask? Well, it's very simple. Life's simple pleasures are created by selfless, radom acts of kindness.

This young man, Mr. Lanky, "Help What Couldn't Help Itself". There was no way I could get out of that spot on my own, but he helped a girl, me, who was clearly in distress.

So, I suggest for you to random help someone by holding open a door, picking up something they dropped, or even borrow them a pen when their's decides to play a trick on them and won't work. Whatever it may be, it will help you feel good and help the person without receiving something in return.

From now on, I will always smile when I see a Sebring (and maybe even let him slide infront of me when the freeway is packed during rush hour)...

Diminishing wildlife

One of my guilty pleasures lately has been In Touch magazine. It's an easy way to kick back and take the worry off the real world and go in and gossip about the celebrity world. Something that I do like about this magazine is that they have truthful stories in it as well. One that caught my attention was one titled "wildlife worries". Sure, the 40 degree temperatures during December were nice for us, but little do people know that the polar bears are waking up earlier without having the adequate food intake they need to survive. They might become extinct by 2051! To some, this might be nothing, but these are living breathing creatures that deserve a chance at life as much as you or me. I'm not saying take polar bears as your cause, but I am hoping that everyone can find a passion and help someone or something out that can't do it for themselves... no matter how big or small the passion might be.

My First Protest

Thursday, January 25th

Last week, I went to my very first protest. My ma found out about it from the Wisconsin Humane Societies website. Apparently, the Medical College of Wisconsin is one of two college in the States to still do medical testing on dogs. At first, I was a little uneasy about it because I don't think animals, in general should be tested on... but then I found out what really happens...

I was told, and it was displayed on some of the posters handed out, how dogs are have the front arms tied down to their sides, and give anesthesia to the point that the are a little bit numb, but can feel even pain and are still awake while the professors and their students open them up and move stuff around to "understand" what's going on in the body.

A lady next to us told us that one of the people they get dogs from is a man who breeds hunting dogs, and these particular dogs just won't hunt.

I am beyond disguisted with the use of any animal put under the knife to just be disposed with like they were nothing to begin with. Animals have just as many feelings as humans do. I just wish more people felt the need to speak out about this enough that it would completely change the system.